Vigilance to showcase good governance models

VACB chief Jacob Thomas says model projects chosen by a special team will be showcased at the expo scheduled from February.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) will showcase outstanding models of good governance from each district in Kerala and highlight their contributions to society by organising exhibitions. The ‘Good Governance’ expo will begin in February 2017 covering Ernakulam, Thiruvanathapuram, and Kozhikode districts.

Opening a seminar organised by a journalists’ collective here in memory of the late journalist Jibin P. Moozhikkal, VACB Director Jacob Thomas said the model projects would be selected by a VACB team during a nine-day drive beginning January 2. Some of the pioneering initiatives of government sectors such as health and education would be showcased.

The VACB Director, who recently visited some of the government institutions, said the Punalur Government Taluk Hospital was one such model. “During our visit we found that the patients were happy with the treatment at the hospital. It is an incredible model for the government hospitals,” he said.

Mr. Thomas said a record of the lapses in implementing government projects in Kerala would be prepared by the VACB team by December end.

Referring to some of the projects that have caught the attention of the VACB, Mr. Thomas cited the example of the Pazhassi irrigation project in Kannur, which ‘hardly succeeded in meeting the professed goals.’ “Though the project was commissioned to cater to the local irrigation needs, it was not achieved. The dam site is facing encroachment threat. Irrigation projects in Kollam and Wayanad too have come to the notice of the VACB,” he said.

Mr. Thomas said the department had come up with two mobile applications for the public to submit complaints. “We are getting many complaints through these applications,” he added.